I'd love a trip to Singapore! This weekend I was at the Worlds of Flavor Conference
in Napa and got a chance to meet several Singapore chefs. If your biz partner goes back, I've got some good contacts I can provide.
Bios for my new friends from Singapore:
o Chef Malcolm Lee found his calling in the kitchen through experiences working in the U.S. and operating Frujch, a café and bar, as an undergraduate at the Singapore Management University (SMU). After becoming the first Singaporean recipient of the Miele Guide Scholarship, Malcolm attended the At-Sunrice Global Chef Academy . Today Chef Malcolm serves authentic Peranakan cuisine with a twist; he uses refined and modern techniques such as sous vide cooking. The Candlenut Kitchen’s menu reflects Chef Malcolm’s simple yet refined cooking style with focus on flavor and execution. As a small and young restaurant, The Candlenut Kitchen has gained significant coverage in the local media, and received publicity in overseas publications in Hong Kong and London .
o K.F. Seetoh is the founder of Makansutra, a company dedicated to the celebration of Asian food, culture, and lifestyles. A former photojournalist, he publishes the Makansutra Asian food guides, has his own Makansutra television series, runs Singapore-style food courts in Singapore and the Philippines , delivers mobile content, and consults on food business. Mr. Seetoh’s works have been featured by numerous international media like CNN, BBC, CNBC, The New York Times, and The New Yorker. Mr. Seetoh’s latest culinary venture is the 15,000-square-foot Makansutra Asian Food Village in Manila , Philippines . It is a 13-station, open-kitchen, performance-chef food court offering cooked-before-your-eyes Southeast Asian flavors. All its chefs are trained by K.F. Seetoh and his team.
o Wee Liang Lian is the General Manager of Wee Nam Kee Hainanese Chicken Rice & Seafood Restaurant, a family-owned restaurant in Singapore well known for their exceptionally flavorful Hainanese Chicken Rice. What began as a humble hawker business established by Wee Liang’s father Wee Toon Ouut in the 1980s ago has grown into a household name among Singaporeans. The Wee Nam Kee brand recently expanded beyond Sinapore by recently establishing their first overseas franchise in the Philippine’s capital city, Manila . According to KF Seetoh, publisher of the Makansutra Asian food guides, “A meal of Wee Nam Kee’s iconic Chicken Rice, coupled with a few side dishes like crispy Cereal Prawns, Fish Head Curry, Salted Egg Yolk Seafood, Prawn Paste Chicken, etc. is what Singaporeans decree as a ‘cze cha’ meal. It’s the ultimate no frills and totally casual cuisine that is the most family friendly, creative and competitive in Singapore . It’s cheap, comfortable and endearing. It is from such places that famous signatures like Chilli Crabs, Fish Head Curry, Crispy Prawn Rolls with water chestnuts and even Fried Spicy Buttermilk Pork were born. The Cze Cha diner is an institution in Singapore and Wee Nam Kee lists up there in rankings and endearment.”
o Willin Low is the chef-owner of Wild Rocket in the Mount Emily neighborhood of Singapore . After working eight years as a lawyer, Willin decided to abandon the corporate world to pursue his dream of becoming a chef. Cooking to appreciative crowds since opening Wild Rocket at Mount Emily in 2005, the self-taught chef describes his cuisine as “modern Singaporean”, inspired by Singapore hawker fare or food Willin ate as a child. Together with his team of staff, Willin also owns Wild Oats at Mount Emily , Wild Oats at Punggol Park , Relish at Cluny Court and Relish at MyVillage. In 2009, Willin was named by The New York Times as one of three chefs to change the culinary scene in Singapore and in 2010 he was named as one of Singapore ’s best chefs by the Financial Times. In 2011, Wallpaper Magazine described Willin’s cuisine as “homespun but defiantly modern and imaginative cooking”. Willin is also one of the 100 most exciting new chefs chosen in the prestigious Phaidon publication Coco : 10 World-Leading Masters Choose 100 Contemporary Chefs.
o Samson Chan is the chef of Barnacles Restaurant in Singapore . Chef Chan started his career in 1985 as a Chinese cuisine cook with the Pan Pacific Hotel in Singapore . He studied under the strict teachings of Hong Kong master chefs, and joined the Shangri-la Rasa Sentosa resort in 1993. In 1996, he joined the four-star Sedona Hotel and Golf Club in Bintan Lagoon , Indonesia , as the executive Chinese chef. In 2001 he returned to Singapore and joined the new Jade Restaurant at the Fullerton Hotel, one of the first Chinese fusion restaurants in Singapore . Later he joined Millenium and Copthorne Hotel as banquet chef before rejoining Shangri-la’s Rasa Sentosa Resort at Barnacles Restaurant with both Western and Chinese cuisines. In 2010, he represented Rasa Sentosa Resort in Singapore food promotions in Hong Kong at Island Shangri-la and Aberdeen Marina Club.
